Josephus Adjutus was a famous theologian

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 with an ethnic Assyrian

Assyrian people

The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...

 background. He advanced some fundamental theories on religion during the Reformation, and criticized corruption in the Catholic church.

Biography

Josephus was born in Mosul

Mosul

Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...

, in present-day Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. He apparently came from a family of Assyrian Catholic Chaldeans

Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...

. After his parents died in 1606, relatives sent Josephus to be brought up in Jerusalem. Until 1613, he lived and was educated in Palestine in a monastery of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 Order. He was made a Deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 in 1632 under Pope Urban VIII. Five years later, in 1637, he earned the title of Doctor of Theology at the Collegium Bononiensis in Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

. After periods in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 and Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, he moved to Wittenberg

Wittenberg

Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....

, which he saw as the "new Jerusalem". Above all, in Wittenberg, he turned against the Catholic Church.

On October 23, 1643, in the Grand Auditorium of Wittenberg University, Adjutus gave his Oratio-revocatoria, a declaration of renunciation of the Roman Church. He denounced the contention of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 that Scripture

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 does not contain everything necessary for healing. The Church of the time believed it necessary to explore the mysteries of faith allowed by the Bible.

Adjutus criticized the Catholic reverence for the rule of the Pope, which he saw as a source of errors and an impediment to the understanding of the Word of God. He accused the Catholic Church of three main sins:

1. Contempt for the Holy Scripture
2. Erroneous beliefs
3. The tyranny of church superiors

Adjutus was made a professor of theology, and remained at Wittenberg until his death.

Publications

• Oratio de potestate episcopi Josefi Adjuti. Wittenberg 1646
• Serenissimo et potentissimo principi ac domino: Domino Frideresco Wilhelmo, Marchioni Brandenburgensis. Wittenberg 1650

Literature

• Burchard Brentjes:Adjutus Josephus, the Chaldeans to Wittenberg. In:Scientific. Zeitschr. d. Martin-Luther-Univ. Halle-Wittenberg: Ges - u. sprachwissenschaftl. R.. Volume 26, 1977, issue 4, pages pp 131–138.
• Heinrich Kuehne and Heinz Motel:Famous people and their connection to Wittenberg. Publisher Göttinger Tageblatt, 1990, ISBN 3924781176